Shloka 8
Śānti Parva, Adhyāya 52 — Bhīṣma’s Humility Before Kṛṣṇa and the Granting of Boons
बल॑ मे प्रजहातीव प्राणा: संत्वरयन्ति च । मर्माणि परितप्यन्ति भ्रान्तचित्तस्तथा हाहम्
balaṃ me prajahātīva prāṇāḥ saṃtvarayanti ca | marmāṇi paritapyante bhrāntacittas tathā hāham ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „Es ist, als verließe mich meine Kraft; selbst mein Atem eilt davon. Meine Lebenspunkte brennen vor Schmerz, und mein Geist taumelt in Verwirrung — weh mir, in welchen Zustand bin ich geraten!“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the fragility of embodied life: strength, breath, and mental steadiness can collapse together under intense distress. In the ethical frame of the Śānti Parva, such moments press the listener toward reflection on impermanence, the limits of physical power, and the need for steadiness grounded in dharma rather than mere bodily capacity.
The speaker reports a crisis-state: strength is failing, breath is becoming rapid and unstable, the body’s vital points feel as if burning, and the mind is confused. It is a vivid depiction of acute anguish—physical and psychological—voiced within Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration.